Government of Kazakhstan and National Bank signed Agreement on Coordination of Macroeconomic Policy Measures for 2019

Government • 26 March, 2019

Government of Kazakhstan and National Bank signed Agreement on Coordination of Macroeconomic Policy Measures for 2019

Prime Minister Askar Mamin and Chairman of the National Bank Erbolat Dossaev signed an Agreement on the Coordination of Macroeconomic Policy Measures for 2019, reports press service of PM.

Egemen Qazaqstan

According to the signed document, “the growth of welfare and the standard of living of the population is the main goal of the state’s economic policy.” In this regard, the achievement of this goal requires concerted actions by the Government and the National Bank to conduct effective macroeconomic policies.

Directed to implement the Address of the First President – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev dated Oct. 5, 2018, as well as the instructions given at the extended meeting of the Government Jan. 30, 2019, close coordination and joint measures are an important condition for improving the overall macroeconomic policy of the state and contribute to achieve the goals of the 2025 Strategic Development Plan.

Thus, by signing the Agreement the Government and the National Bank defined the following tasks:

Balanced fiscal policy
Effective monetary policy and measures to control inflation
Ensuring the stability of the foreign exchange market
Attracting investment and the availability of funding for the economy
Development of the government securities market
Implementation of state programs of financial support for the development of the economy
Improvement of real sector enterprises
Stability of the financial system
Reducing the shadow economy and the development of non-cash payments
Consumer protection and improving financial literacy

Government will pursue a stable and predictable fiscal policy aimed at ensuring macroeconomic stability, reducing the dependence of budget expenditures on oil prices, and increasing the efficiency and stability of government spending. At the same time, “in the field of social policy, all budget initiatives aimed at increasing the real incomes of the population will be fully implemented.”

In the direction “implementation of state programs of financial support for economic development”, the Government and the National Bank of Kazakhstan will work together to increase the effectiveness of state support measures for the real sector, taking into account the number and scale of state programs for financing real sector enterprises.

“Government and the National Bank will continue the implementation of the Nurly Zher and 7-20-25 housing programs. The government will take measures to increase the supply of affordable housing. The National Bank will continue financing the 7-20-25 program. Measures for the balanced implementation of the two housing programs will provide affordable housing for various segments of the population, involving both budgetary and private sources of financing,” the text of the Agreement states.

The implementation of the Agreement will ensure the achievement of the following indicators:

attracting investment in fixed assets at a level of 16.8% of GDP in 2019 and more than 30% of GDP per year by 2025;
bringing the share of small and medium-sized businesses to 28.2% of GDP in 2019 and 35% of GDP by 2025;
reduction of the share of the shadow economy by 40% over three years.